


Support

by helsinkibaby



Series: Partners [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 19:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5553425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe volunteers to support his partner. Turns out Caitlin's there to support him too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Support

"Everything ok?" 

It takes Caitlin a moment to answer, a moment where she pulls herself together, places her cell phone face down on her desk. Of course, that moment is all it takes for Joe to lean forward, resting his elbows on his desk, eyes narrowed in a frown. "Partner?" is all he says, but there's a wealth of questions in those two syllables. 

"That was Cisco." She keeps her voice low, just in case, and his eyes widen as he leans forward just a little more. "He thinks..." She swallows hard. "He thinks he has something." 

"For your-" Joe waves his hand in her general direction and she gives him a look that she usually reserves for idiot suspects who can't quite believe that just because she may be a female with youth on her side, she's not actually a complete dimwit. "Right." He lifts a pen, taps it against his blotter. "When are you..."

"He suggested tonight, after work." Caitlin bites her lip. "He doesn't mess around, does he?" 

A smile comes to Joe's lips but there's something tight about it. Only for a second though, then it vanishes, and he's talking in that amused tone that's usually reserved for stories about Barry and Iris. "Not when it comes to his technology." He studies her then, tilts his head. "You want some company when you're heading over?"

She wants to say yes more than anything, but the words stick in her throat. It's the result of years of being a woman in a man's world, she knows, the fear of being thought weak being a real and constant companion. "You don't have to-" she begins but she stops talking when he says one word. 

"Partner." It's his "don't argue with me" tone, the one she's heard him pull way too many times over the last few months. It doesn't rankle with her today though and he must see that because he pushes his chair back and stands up, coming to stand close to her. "We're supposed to have each other's backs, right?" 

He'd said something like that to her that night last week, the night they'd each discovered what the other was hiding, the night he'd thrown her a lifeline when he'd realised she was drowning. The idea that he'd do it again means more to her than she'd ever realised it could and she bites her lip against the urge to tell him just that. Grateful or not, she's still a cop, still his partner and they're in the middle of the precinct where anyone could overhear them. 

So instead she just gives him a tiny smile. "Thank you," she says and he nods and goes back to his paperwork. 

Of course, she thinks later, it wouldn't be Central City if things went the way they'd planned. Because instead of an afternoon catching up on paperwork, she and the rest of her co-workers spend their time sitting bound and cross legged in the precinct lobby, held hostage by the Clock King. Caitlin's scared, because she and Joe know what no-one else does, that Barry has lost his powers so help from The Flash is unlikely, unless Cisco has another miracle up his sleeve.  She's also worried that she's going to lose control and start freezing things, something that looks a damn sight more likely when a gunshot splits the air in two and Eddie, her former partner, one of her best friends, lies bleeding in front of her. 

It gets even more likely when the Clock King drags Iris up to the roof, as she looks at her current partner straining his bonds to try to get to her. When they vanish from sight, when another gunshot rings out, the scream that tears itself from Joe's throat sends ripples of fear down her spine and she looks down, closes her eyes just in case. 

She only opens them when she hears the clack of high heels running down the stairs and Joe's sob of relief. 

Then it's like the world moves into fast forward and a million things are happening at once: Joe hugging Iris like he never wants to let her go, trying to stop Eddie's bleeding, watching him get loaded onto an ambulance. Iris hops in beside him and Joe watches the ambulance go like it's taking away the most precious thing he owns and Caitlin doesn't hesitate. "Go," she says simply and he gives her a torn look. 

"I'm needed here," he says but only with half a heart. 

Caitlin shakes her head. "You're needed there," she corrects him. "I can handle the paperwork. And Singh." He still looks doubtful, though slightly less so, and she adds, "Partners, remember? We have each other's backs." 

He lifts an eyebrow. "Stealing from me again?" She gives him a grin on return and his hand lands on her shoulder, squeezes gently. "Thanks, partner." 

By the time she's actually done the paperwork and is able to head for the hospital herself, she's almost ready to regret her generosity. Singh had a million questions he wanted answers to, all shouted at varying degrees of volume and he'd left unsatisified with most of what he'd been told. Which didn't promise anything good for the rest of the week but Caitlin decides she'll worry about that later. 

She has other things to worry about.

At the hospital, the first person she meets is Iris, standing in the corridor with two cups of coffee in her hand and a slightly windswept expression on her face. "Caitlin," she says, surprise stamped on her tone. "What are you doing here?" 

Caitlin forced a smile to her lips, a chill creeping into the atmosphere that for once was nothing to do with her. "I came to see how Eddie is," she tells her honestly. "And to warn your dad that Captain Singh is on the warpath and he might want to turn off his phone." 

Iris's lips turn up in a tiny smile which gives Caitlin heart; it's more than she's got from Iris in quite some time. "Eddie's pretty stoned," she says. "But he's going to be ok." She smiles a real smile then and Caitlin releases a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Iris inclines her head in invitation and Caitlin falls into step beside her. 

"What you did today was really brave," she says and Iris looks at her as if she's surprised. "Taking on the Clock King, succeeding where a roomful of cops failed..."

Iris chuckles. "Nice to finally put all those self defence classes to good use." 

Caitlin's not about to let her get away with that. "I thought it was pretty badass," she tells her and there's no question; Iris is definitely surprised. 

Surprised but pleased and she smiles as they reach Eddie's room. "Thanks."

The smile lasts as long as it takes for Eddie to lift his head and smile dopily at them as they walk in. "Hey, there's my two favourite girls..." His eyes are bright, his smile slightly loopy and Caitlin fights the very inappropriate urge to giggle.  Or whip out her cell phone and take some video footage. "You two are a sight for sore eyes..."

"Flirt." But Iris is smiling when she says it, handing a cup of coffee to Barry and moving past him to sit on the bed beside Eddie. She takes his hand in her free one and he smiles up at her, adoration written all over his face. Caitlin finds herself smiling at the sight - she's a sucker for seeing happy couples in love - before glancing over at Joe because in her experience, this is about the time that his trigger finger starts to get itchy. He's not looking at Eddie and Iris though; instead he's gazing at Caitlin, a look on his face that she can't quite read. 

"Didn't expect to see you here, partner." 

His voice is mild, perfectly neutral and she raises an eyebrow. "Don't worry, all the paperwork is done," she quips and he has the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "However, I'm not sure how Captain Singh is taking everything." Joe purses his lips and she knows that expression all too well. "I just came by to check on Eddie." 

"You're so thoughtful." Eddie's eyes are closed, his voice a sing song. "Isn't she so thoughtful?" 

Barry chokes back a laugh. "Totally." His eyes dance with mischief and Caitlin wonders where his cell phone is. The thought makes her lips twitch and she presses her lips together to quell the urge to laugh.

"I always said you didn't appreciate me enough when we were partners," she says and he lifts his hand, index fingers extended like he's awarding her a point. It wobbles crazily in the air, nearly sends Iris's coffee flying and even Joe's grinning now. 

"Anyway," Caitlin says, "I'll leave you all to it." She glances at her watch, realises it's over an hour past the time she told Cisco she'd be at STAR Labs. 

"You're not staying?" Iris sounds surprised, almost upset, which is unusual enough to almost make Caitlin regret that she can't stay. Almost. 

"I have a thing," she says, gesturing over her shoulder and Joe's eyes widen like he's just remembered. 

"I'll walk you out," he says, going over to Iris and kissing her cheek. "I'm gonna head back to the precinct, see if I can talk Singh off a ledge." Iris opens her mouth as if to protest and he shrugs. "No time like the present." 

Iris doesn't look entirely happy but she nods, gives him a hug and turns her attention back to Eddie as Joe falls into step beside Caitlin. She waits until they're halfway down the hall before saying, "You don't have to-"

He gives her another of those looks.  "Eddie's gonna be ok, Iris is safe," he reminds her and  then he adds, " besides, I said I'd go with you." He says it in a way that ends any question she might have had, like it's never even occurred to him to go back on his promise. Which it probably didn't : no matter what else she might be able to say about her partner - and while there's plenty good, there is some that's not so much - he's a man of his word. 

She leads the way to STAR Labs, the headlights of his car keeping a safe distance from her the whole way there. They park side by side - it's not like there's a lot of competition for places - and as they wait for the elevator, she catches him looking at her, a slight frown on his face. "What?" she asks and she knows it sounds defensive but the word was out of her mouth before she could stop it. 

Joe points a finger at her face, moves it up and down quickly. "You're about to chew your bottom lip off," he tells her.  "And it feels like I'm at the North Pole standing beside you." She presses her lips together and she feels like she should be blushing but there's no heat in her face, nor anywhere in her entire body, come to that. 

"I guess I'm a little nervous." It's all she's prepared to admit, but Joe's not prepared to accept that. 

"Because you're afraid it won't work?"

"Or that it will." He blinks once and she looks around her, at the non moving numbers on the elevator, at the security cameras that hopefully aren't attached to microphones. "I keep thinking about how Wells looked at me... I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil."

"If it were just Wells, I'd feel the same," Joe tells her and she can't help but notice that he's angled his face so that the cameras can't pick him up, that his voice is so low she can barely hear him. She's not the only one who's paranoid then. "But Cisco, Patty... they're good people." She nods, the quiet words being enough to soothe her nerves at least a little. Then he continues, "But if it starts to go south, just say the word... You can freeze the bastard and I'll shoot him into pieces." 

He's so serious, yet the visual is so absurd that all Caitin can do is laugh and Joe smiles too, the bright easy grin that she only sees rarely. She's still trying to reign in her giggles when the elevator dings and as it ascends, the closer they get to their destination, the easier it is.  By the time they reach the cortex, her stomach is churning again and not even Joe's _sotto voce_ "The safety's off my gun, remember?" can raise a smile. 

"Hey, you're here." Cisco's smile is bright at first but then it falters and he visibly shivers. "Let's get started," he says without any further ado and from the corner of her eye, Caitlin sees Joe do a double take, like he wasn't expecting Cisco to get to the point so quickly.

A whoosh of air and suddenly Barry is there beside them, giving Caitlin a smile. "I thought you might need some moral support," he says and she nods, forces a smile to her lips. 

"You just wanted to get away from the lovebirds." It doesn't sound as forced as she feared it might and Barry's smile takes a turn towards the rueful. 

"That too," he admits, lips pursed. "But hey, two birds, one stone, right?" 

Like father, like son, she finds herself thinking as the words bring a genuine smile to her lips. "Thanks, Barry." 

He makes an "after you," gesture with his hands and she leads the way into the next room, sits up on the bed where Cisco and Patty are already preparing what they need. Joe stands at the end of the bed, Barry beside him and Caitlin tries not to concentrate on the needle that's lying on the equipment trolley as Patty takes her temperature. "I hate needles."

She doesn't mean to mutter that out loud and Joe guffaws with surprise. "Partner, you attend autopsies on the regular," he reminds her. "You've got a stronger stomach than I do."

Caitlin's eyebrows climb towards her hairline and even Barry looks sharply at him. Chalking that up as something she never thought she'd heard him admit, she shrugs. "That's different. It's not happening to me there." 

Barry's exaggerated head tilt makes her think that he, at least, sees her point. Joe evidently doesn't though, instead putting his hands into his pockets and rocking forward on the balls of his feet. "You know what this reminds me of, Bar? Remember when Iris had to get her wisdom teeth removed a few years back? And she was so nervous of the dentist we both had to go with her?"

Barry had been frowning at the start of the story but then his face cleared, broke into a huge grin. "And to take her mind off things, we were singing along to the radio at the top of our lungs the entire way there?" 

"Which was all well and good until we came to that red light." Joe rubs his chin with one hand and Caitlin can just about make out a grin underneath it, can hear the laughter that he's barely keeping back. "And you tried to hit that high note in 'MacArthur Park'." The laughter makes an appearance then and Caitlin glances at Barry whose cheeks are growing steadily darker. 

"I'd forgotten the window was open," he tells her somewhat sheepishly. "While I was adopting a 'Forrest Gump' type approach to my performance."

She's lost again and Joe takes pity on her. "If you can't sing good," he intones, "sing loud." 

Just as he finishes, there's a pinch to Caitlin's arm and she jumps, looks around to see Patty stepping back, a broad smile on her face, while Cisco is looking from Joe to Barry looking supremely impressed.    "Nice team work," he says and Joe looks equally pleased with himself. 

"Years of practice." 

Caitlin tears her eyes from his face to look down at her arm, fingering the small mark where the injection site was. There's not even a speck of blood and her fingers find only smooth skin. "I can't feel anything," she murmurs and Cisco bounces on his toes. 

"You have some serious nano-tech in there," he says. "Smaller than nano-tech, actually, and I didn't even think that was possible. But Doctor Wells and I figured it out." 

Caitlin keeps her expression blank, doesn't dare look at Joe for fear of giving herself away. "So how does it work?" she hears Barry ask and Cisco picks up his tablet, presses something on the screen. 

"The implant should regulate Caitlin's core temperature, bringing it up and maintaining it at normal body temperature," he says. "With luck, and a bit of practice, you'll probably still be able to use your powers... if you want to, that is." He looks from her to the tablet and back again. "How are you feeling?"

Caitlin rolls her shoulders, closes her eyes and swivels her head this way and that. "Warm," she tells him after a moment and Patty steps forward, thermometer in hand. 

"May I?" she asks and when Caitlin nods, she steps in, takes her temperature. "Half a degree higher than it was before the injection," she reports and Cisco pumps his fist. 

"Success!" he crows and Caitlin feels a smile of joy and relief crossing her face. It's immediately tempered, though, when Patty speaks again. 

"Let's not get carried away," she says. "We'll need to monitor you, and the implant, for the next little while... you're going to be seeing a lot of us."

She sounds apologetic but Cisco's smile brightens. Caitlin nods once, begins to stand up. "I can live with that," she says, but the second her feet hit the ground, the room appears to tilt around her and Barry is there before she can even blink, holding her up. 

"Whoa there," he says as her fingernails dig into his arm and Joe is beside them too, his dark eyes serious as he looks down at them. 

"You ok, partner?"

Caitlin nods, the heat on her cheeks nothing to do with the implant. "I'm fine," she says. "I guess it's just the day catching up with me."

She wants to believe that, wants them to believe it, even if she's not entirely sure herself. From the frowns she's greeted with, they don't buy it. Patty bites her lip. "Maybe you should stay here tonight," she says. "For observation."

"Is that really necessary?" It's about the last thing she wants to do and maybe that shows on her face because Joe takes a step towards Cisco, head tilted in question. 

"Cisco, you can monitor the implant from here, right?" He points towards Cisco's tablet. "Set up some notification... thing... that'll let you know if things go hinky?"

Cisco looks confused but he nods. "Sure."

"And Caitlin has your cell phone numbers, so I'm sure if anything happens, she'll call you guys." That was directed to Caitlin and she knew it wasn't as much a statement of fact as an order. Normally, being ordered around by Joe made her bristle at least a little, tonight she just nodded. Joe nodded too, as of the decision was made. "Then it's settled. Bar, you take my car." Joe throws him the keys, Barry catching them with a slightly dazed expression on his face. "Drop it off at the house. I'll drive Caitlin home in her car, catch a cab home later."

"You don't have to-" Caitlin catches herself even before his eyes narrow in her direction. "Thank you." 

Joe doesn't give anyone a chance to argue with him, just gets Caitlin on her feet and walks her out of the room, shoulder to shoulder, glancing down at her every so often like he's afraid she's going to keel over on him. Just like always in STAR Labs, they don't speak until they're alone together and away from the place, in this case a couple of blocks away, his fingers drumming restlessly on the wheel. 

"I hope I didn't overstep back there," he says and Caitlin's head snaps towards him, genuinely surprised. He takes his eyes off the road for a second and whatever he sees in her face has him adding, "You didn't look like you wanted to spend the night there... And I didn't think you really wanted the STAR Labs crew in your place either."

Caitlin shifts in her seat, making herself comfortable. "You got that right," she says, closing her eyes as she takes in a deep breath, lets it out slowly. "I haven't actually eaten anything since lunch," she tells him, opening her eyes to look at him. "And I guess between that and actually feeling warm... I got a little light headed. Plus it's been a hell of a day."

Joe's lips purse in an unmistakeable grimace. "We seem to be saying that a lot lately," he murmurs. "Remember when this job was simple?"

She doesn't think twice. "No."

The word surprises a laugh out of Joe. "Me either," he says after a moment. "I just don't remember it ever being this complicated." 

Caitlin tilts her head back against the seat rest, rolls it so that she's looking out her side window. The streets of Central City, almost deserted at this time of night, rush by them and despite herself, she shudder at the thought of what might be out there. "Yeah," she says quietly. "I know what you mean."

They drive on in silence until he gets to her place, parks the car in the underground garage and turns to her. "You gonna be ok?" he asks her and she nods with a confidence she's not quite sure she feels. 

"Sure."

 They get out of the car and he hands her the keys. "I'll see you tomorrow," he says, jamming his hands into his pockets but he doesn't make any moves to leave. 

"I was just going to order some pizza, have a beer before I turn in." She doesn't know what makes her say it but once she starts speaking, she can't stop herself. "You want to come up? You probably haven't eaten either..." 

He grins. "No pineapple?" 

She grins back, this being familiar territory. "Never."

He extends his hand in front of him, like he's showing her a path. "Then, partner... Lead the way." 


End file.
